


Redemption

by smoresies



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angel Wings, Angels, Angst, Demons, Depression, Heaven & Hell, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:32:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoresies/pseuds/smoresies
Summary: All Kakuzu wants is his wings back. All he has to do is protect one human.He wishes it wasn't as hard as it seemed.(Naruto Gift Exchange gift for Ghost-Kaiju!)





	Redemption

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this story was kind of hard to write because I wanted to write _so_ much more than I did but I didn't need another 300k fic so this is it!
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this. The idea took literally half the month that I had to write it so... I wanted a plot worthy of Ghost-Kaiju because I adore their art. 
> 
> Fun fact: when I read I got Ghost-Kaiju I freaked out on my RP Discord server for a solid 30 minutes. A lot of "I am not worthy"s were said.
> 
> Anyway, Ghost, I hope you enjoy this trash fire of a fic.

The piercing sounds of screaming reverberated off the dampened cave walls. The air was thick with water vapor, making the air harder to breathe in. 

A rhythmic drip of water sliding off a stalactite seemed to get progressively louder and louder until there was a growl of frustration that ripped through all other sounds. The screams of pain seemed to cease and after a beat of silence, the water began to drip again.

With a bloodied fist from punching the cave wall, the man let out a seething breath through his nose, teeth clenched tightly. 

"Kakuzu. It's been quite some time." Kakuzu glanced up, his sclera completely red from the dangerous air conditions in the cave, but his emerald irises shone through the darkness angrily. He glared at the beams of light that stood in front of him. 

"Hashirama. Tobirama." He spat the introduction. "What brings you here?" The beings that stood before him, didn't have much of a shape, but he could tell the celestial formations of light anywhere.

"You'd think he wants to stay in hell." Hashirama tutted.

"What a shame..." Tobirama said with a false sigh. With narrowed eyes, Kakuzu glared up at them. 

"What the hell does that mean?" Hashirama moved over to Kakuzu and gripped the marginal convert of Kakuzu's bare wing. "Ow! What the-"

"Don't you miss them? Your feathers?" He said, effectively cutting Kakuzu off. Kakuzu huffed and folded his wing remnants in on themselves to get out of Hashirama's grasp. "You did have the most spectacular set of wings."

"Shut the fuck up." He growled. "What are you doing here? Here to flaunt? Okay, I get it. You're God's perfect fucking soldiers, his little damned angels. Move on with your day."

"I believe _you_ are the damned one. Not us." Tobirama said smoothly and Kakuzu's eyes snapped over to him and he glared. 

"Just tell me what you're here for and _go_. I'm very impatient." Kakuzu said, enunciating each syllable in his final sentence. He could almost see the wry smile on Hashirama's face.

"We're just here to give you a chance at getting your feathers... and powers back..." He said slowly and Kakuzu's eyes set heavily on Hashirama, waiting for the catch. He continued staring until Hashirama sighed and relented. "All you have to do is look after a human and make sure he doesn't die." 

"Human? You expect me to look at a fragile, weak, thin skinned _human?_ Tch, I'd rather stay here for eternity." Kakuzu said seriously and crossed his arms, averting his gaze from the blinding light of the angels.

"We knew you were stubborn, but never thought you were _stupid_." Tobirama chastized and Kakuzu grumbled under his breath. "If you'd rather be here instead of just watching a simple human for a few years, then that's fine with us. I'm sure there's other souls that would want some sort of penance for their sins. Madara, perhaps?" Kakuzu glared up at Tobirama who didn't seem all to happy about using Madara as an example.

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed and Hashirama took a step forward, Kakuzu could feel the powerful gaze of the celestial being. "...Fine." He agreed. He watched as Hashirama moved closer to him, his eyes burning from the light and suddenly everything was black.

***

Kakuzu stood in a blindingly white room. There was strange beeping and the stench in the air reeked of death. It was a new smell, to smell someone dying, not someone who was already dead. He looked around the room until his heart began pounding angrily in his chest at the sight of a group of humans surrounding a bed. He walked closer to them and heard the cry of a newborn baby. He was much taller than the humans so just loomed behind them to see a woman sprawled in the bed. Her body was pale and her face was covered in sweat. Blood soaked the sheets and her gown. 

The nurse quickly cleaned the baby off and brought him to her. She swatted her hand at him. The nurse frowned heavily.

"I didn't want him. And now I'm dying because I was forced to keep him." She said slowly, her breathing becoming even more erratic. Several of the nurses stared at the dying woman with uncertainty. "I don't want him to be the last thing I see." 

"You... don't even want to name him?" Came the small voice from the woman holding him. 

"Fuck. Him." 

Kakuzu smelled the way the air changed in the room and just like that, she was dead. He looked curiously at the bundle in the woman's arms. This was his charge. This tiny infant. 

"Bring him to the nursery. We'll fill out the paperwork for him to move to the orphanage later." 

The room was cleared out and Kakuzu stayed behind and stared at the dead woman in the bed and the only thing he could think of in that moment while he stared at her face, set in displeasure, was that had he stayed down in hell, he would've met her there too.

***

Kakuzu was able to leave the infants side for periods of time, but he was always forced back. He hated looking at that tiny pink thing. All it did was cry. Even worse, since moving him to the orphanage, there wasn't a damn person there to care enough to stop it. 

So there the white haired baby laid, in his crib, screaming with tears streaming down his face. It was the most irritating sound Kakuzu had ever heard. It was nothing like the sound of damned souls screaming. Those were beautiful. Here, in this room, listening to the baby scream, all Kakuzu could think of was this being was _pure_. He'd done no wrong and he was a good soul and he was laying there screaming like the tortured souls in hell and honestly, Kakuzu was angry. The child didn't deserve this.

"Stop crying!" Kakuzu shouted and was amazed to figure out that the baby stopped abruptly and looked around curiously. His tiny frame hiccuped air into his delicate lungs. His lips were moist from the saliva he spit out and his face was redder than Kakuzu had ever seen it. "Huh." Kakuzu blinked and the purple eyes snapped over to his emerald ones and the baby held eye contact with him.

"...Can you see me, brat?" Kakuzu asked and took a step closer to the crib. The baby continued to look at him curiously. 

Kakuzu leaned over the crib and tilted his head to the side, watching the baby follow his every move. He hadn't known the baby would be able to see him. It was strange, it seemed almost personal now. 

Scowling, Kakuzu pulled away from the crib. He didn't have time to humor the damn baby. He left the room, this time, the baby stayed quiet well into the night.

***

As the days mashed together and turned to weeks, Kakuzu realized that he was going to be stuck here for a while. Each time he left, he would be given an even shorter period of time before he was transported back to the baby's side. 

No one had named him. No one cared to. They called him 'the baby' and for a while and even though that's what Kakuzu had been referring to him by in his mind, it made him feel sour. 

They gave him a bottle and left him in the crib with the bottle propped up. Kakuzu watched their backs as they left and this time he followed the orphanage owner. He followed her down the steps and to the kitchen. The house was littered with children. She stood at the stove and was stirring the large pot of porridge she made for breakfast. He walked away from her and paid attention to each of the children that passed him.

Most of them were forlorn, unhappy even. Some had deformities that made them undesirable to adopt. So here they sat. Kakuzu stared at one boy for a while. He had the kindest soul Kakuzu had ever seen. He was only about 8 years old. He was helping the other children and he was smiling. 

He'd never be adopted. His skin was tinged blue. 

Kakuzu drew his eyebrows closer together and left the room and walked up the stairs back to the small room that was barely a closet that held his charge's crib.

"What do you think your name should be?" Kakuzu asked after a moment. The baby still drinking the bottle at a speed that seemed unhealthy. He kept stopping to take in deep breaths and then went back to drinking like he'd never had anything to drink before. "You're going to make yourself sick." 

The small human didn't seem to care and continued to chug the formula as if his life depended on it. Kakuzu watched with a perked eyebrow.

Finishing the bottle in record time, Kakuzu was impressed. That was, until the baby's face looked strange and Kakuzu saw the milk dribble out from the corner of his mouth. The tiny face was twisted in pain, his face turned red. Kakuzu stared in confusion, he didn't know what was happening. 

Realizing the baby was suffering somehow, Kakuzu quickly reached over and was able to make himself solid enough to push the baby onto his side and began to pat his back. The baby threw up most of what he drank and was still choking. His tiny cries made Kakuzu nervous.He stayed there, patting the child's back until the cries subsided and Kakuzu shook his head.

"Dumbass, you shouldn't have drank it that quickly. I told you." He chided and the tension in the tiny body relaxed at the sound of Kakuzu's voice. "I'm going to name you... Hidan." He decides, for no actual reason. 

Kakuzu felt a strange itching sensation and turned his head to his wing structure to see he grew a handful of feathers. He moved his hand from Hidan's body and stroked the feathers, interested in their texture. It had been a while since he'd had feathers to touch. The pure white color was almost blinding. 

This is how he gained feathers, huh?

He looked down at the infant and decided it wouldn't be as difficult as he perceived it to be to begin with. He could possibly even do this before having to wait until adulthood in the human. 

***

Hidan as a toddler was too much for Kakuzu to deal with, but he had to admit, he gained quite a few feathers protecting him from doing something dumb enough to get himself killed. 

He was still at the orphanage. No one seemed to want the deathly pale child with white hair and purple eyes. So at three-years-old, Hidan learned what life was in the rundown conditions of the decaying orphanage. 

Hidan was young enough to see Kakuzu sometimes, people assumed it was just an imaginary friend and brushed it off, but it made scolding Hidan a lot easier when Hidan could now sort of understand the basic grasps of languages based on how often Kakuzu yelled at him. 

Only problem being was people were incredibly confused when Hidan started spewing words a mile a minute in a completely dead language. It didn't help his aid in getting adopted in the slightest but as long as Hidan saw Kakuzu somewhere, he would happily continue whatever he was doing, uncaring at the prospect of strangers taking him home. 

"Hidan! What have I told you about eating so quickly?" Kakuzu scolded and Hidan looked up at Kakuzu innocently, his mouth stuffed with stew to the point it was rolling down from his mouth. Swallowing thickly, Hidan looked apologetically.

"S'rry..." His body deflated and Kakuzu hated that he felt bad for a second and scoffed, crossing his arms and walking out of the dining area where everyone stared at Hidan curiously.

***

Kakuzu supposed he would be completely fine during Hidan's entire growing up thing. He'd watched the child since birth and it seemed fairly straightforward.

He didn't expect that one day, Hidan wouldn't see him anymore. 

When Hidan turned 6 years old, he was mocked for still having his imaginary friend. When Hidan argued with them that Kakuzu wasn't an imaginary friend, he was an angel, he was mocked even more. Kakuzu grew to see how ugly children were and when Hidan's vision of him became spotty, Kakuzu assumed it was just a phase.

But from that point on, Hidan had a hard time seeing him, hearing him, or even knowing he was there. 

Until he completely wasn't there anymore.

There wasn't much that bothered Kakuzu, but seeing Hidan walk right through him and even not mentioning his name again to the other kids really did bother him.

Looking at his half filled in wings, he wondered how he would help Hidan now that there was no form of communication between the two.

There was one thing for certain, being Hidan's guardian got significantly lonelier. 

***

Hidan grew bitter. He wasn't the same child that Kakuzu saw grow up. He was acting out. He was a terror to be around and Kakuzu saw his soul was still the same but he grew to resent everyone. 

Fighting older kids just because. Getting told to stop doing something and doing it anyway. Shoving other kids into the walls and breaking things. Kakuzu's irritation with Hidan grew more and more every day. He hated to see Hidan being punished for continuously messing up for things Kakuzu felt he should know better about. 

Hidan's body was littered with bruises and he frame was thin. A lot of the time he went without eating, whether it be because meals were taken from him for being a hassle, or he just refused to eat. 

Late at night, Kakuzu would be sitting besides Hidan's bed while he slept and sometimes Hidan woke up in terror. Kakuzu would give a reassuring pat and it always seemed to make Hidan cry. And he would cry until he fell asleep.

The excessive anger Hidan was feeling was due to abandonment. He pushed everyone away with the thought of them leaving anyway so why bother? People he grew to befriend in the orphanage were adopted and again he was left behind. 

There were always more kids to be abandoned in the end, and Hidan was given more people to interact with, only to feel even worse when they were adopted and he stayed stagnant. 

Through his childhood years, Kakuzu hadn't gained many feathers. He didn't know what to do for Hidan except be there, but it wasn't anything new. He was always there anyway. Always in the same forgotten bedroom with the smell of rotting wood. The cracked floors damp with moisture from never dry air. It was a depressing little crevice of the attic and Hidan usually curled into himself on the small cove that led to the window and watch outside. Nothing interesting ever happened but he wasn't allowed to leave certain parameters which made Kakuzu realize the two of them were more alike than he wanted to admit. 

Hidan spent most of his time there, which is why it was such a disappointment when Hidan went through a growth spurt and couldn't fit there anymore. 

***

Preteen Hidan was almost as insufferable as child Hidan. He was foul-mouthed and had a wicked temper. Nothing seemed to satiate his need to irritate everyone around him and he grew even angrier when people learned to ignore him. 

Kakuzu watched him pathetically. Hidan was growing up in the exact way he _didn't_ want him to. He was starting to prove to Kakuzu that all humans were bad even if they seemed to be so pure at first.

"Ow! Hidan, please, don't throw that at me." Hidan's purple eyes grew comically wide and he put his hands up defensively. 

"I didn't mean to hit you, Kisame. I'm sorry." He said honestly and Kakuzu sighed and watched the interactions transpire. 

"I know you didn't, Hidan." Kisame said softly. "But if you could please stop throwing it to begin with that would be great." Hidan stared up at Kisame with a blank expression and Kisame sighed, realizing that meant Hidan wasn't paying attention enough to listen. 

Kisame was one of the exceptions to Kakuzu's _'All humans are terrible people'_ rule. Kisame was still pure. He even stayed in the orphanage after he turned 18 to help with the other orphans. They all seemed to love him. Everyone respected him, even Hidan. Kisame was the only one to speak to Hidan like he was a person, not the scum on their shoe. 

"Dinner will be done soon." Kisame said quietly and left. Hidan stared at him leave and looked down at his feet. 

***

It took even longer to gain feathers while Hidan was a preteen but being with him as a full-on teenager made things nearly impossible. 

That was until Hidan became even more reckless than he was before. He would hurt himself on purpose and Kakuzu could see the aura that was once pure as a child fade into a deep color of someone who was troubled to their core.

Happiness was rare to see flicker across Hidan's face. Smiling was something different. Hidan smiled, yes. It was a crazed smile, one that showed Kakuzu just how unhinged the boy was. 

Watching the humanity leave Hidan's soul was heartbreaking.

Kakuzu still watched Hidan through the night, like a messed up guardian angel of sorts. Hidan had nightmares and Kakuzu wished he knew what it was. He should have never agreed to watch over Hidan. It was a test of patience in the beginning and Kakuzu realized he had none left. He was angry.

But not with Hidan. Never with Hidan.

This was the child he was supposed to protect and he failed. He watched Hidan fall deeper into despair every single day and he couldn't even touch him anymore. That's how little Hidan believed in him. Just someone else who left him all alone.

The air hung thick in the room as Kakuzu watched the rise and fall of breaths from the white haired teen. He should've known this was just a ploy from Hashirama and Tobirama. Penance for his sins in a different way. Kakuzu hated humanity but day after day he was more and more attached to Hidan and knowing there wasn't a thing he could do to save him from falling deeper made Kakuzu bitter to the core.

Anything bad that could happen to someone, Kakuzu watched happen to Hidan and it made him sick. Hidan accepted abuse now, he revelled in it. 

His soul became more twisted.

The amount of times Kakuzu saved Hidan's life during his late teens was too much to count on one hand. And even though he gained tons of feathers for saving Hidan's life, he was met with the tears of agony when Hidan realized he wasn't dead. 

Kakuzu was right the first time.

He would have prefered to stay in hell for eternity.

***

"You're almost there." Kakuzu closed his eyes angrily at the sound of Hashirama's voice behind him. After another self deprecating episode from Hidan, Kakuzu fled to the roof. One of the only places he could go without being dragged back. It's where he went to give Hidan privacy or if he ever felt like an absolute failure. 

"Shut the fuck up." He hissed.

"You're so angry." Hashirama stated. "Why?"

"You know why! You gave me this boy as a charge and there isn't a damn way to help him!" Kakuzu hissed and felt the shift in the air.

"Kakuzu..." Hashirama started, his light form faded into something more humanoid. Kakuzu eyed him warily, the wings on his back, pure white and stretched wide. "You were not meant to help him. Only keep him alive." Kakuzu stared at Hashirama with haunted eyes.

"At what fucking cost? The kid would be better off dead." Kakuzu spat. 

"We need him alive." Hashirama said seriously. "He's very important. You're doing a great job. It's almost time."

"Why? Why is he important?" Kakuzu asked, finally. "Why is he so important that I've had to save him from fucking everything only to watch him want to die even more?"

"I'm not so sure you'll understand." Hashirama said calmly. 

"Try me." Kakuzu tested with a sharp glare.

"Well...." Hashirama took in a breath. "He's the anti-Christ."

"...Wait, what?" Kakuzu turned to Hashirama, giving him his entire attention. "The anti-Christ? Isn't it said that the anti-Christ brings on the apocalypse?" Hashirama gave a curt nod. "Then why the fuck do you want him alive?"

"The earth is littered with ugly souls. We're just looking for a reset." Hashirama said and smiled warmly. "It's no skin off your back though, Kakuzu, huh? You hate them anyway." Hashirama faded and Kakuzu stared at the spot he left from for a long while.

The colors from the sky had faded to black and there was a chill in the air that bothered even Kakuzu. He decided it was best for him to go inside and when he did, he saw Hidan on his bed staring at Kisame. The two were talking. Again, Kakuzu was almost blinded by the brightness of Kisame's soul. It seemed to be sucked in by the density of Hidan's. 

Kisame was pure. So many children here were pure. Hidan was a child of circumstance. He wasn't supposed to be the anti-Christ. It wasn't supposed to happen. His soul was so pure!

Kakuzu didn't want to believe that the tiny being he saw, the one he saved from choking to death as an infant, was the one who would eventually kill Kisame. They were both laughing. It was a beautiful moment.

Kakuzu couldn't do it. Not anymore. He decided if Hidan wanted to die, who was he to stop him?

The entire day, Kakuzu sat as close to Hidan as he could, listening to his slang. His voice accented in a different way than Kisame's. It had a near calming effect on Kakuzu. He closed his eyes, just listening to the deep rumble of Hidan's laughter. 

Night fell and Kakuzu stood over Hidan's bed, drinking in his appearance. He wondered if his brothers knew what he was going to do. He couldn't allow Hidan to fall that deep. He hadn't done enough bad for him to earn a spot in hell. Perhaps he could make it to heaven after all. 

Kakuzu touched Hidan's cheek, for the first time since Hidan was 6, he could feel the skin beneath his finger tips. Hidan was almost 18 now, he would be kicked out of the orphanage for sure, especially if he chose to not help as Kisame did.

"I'm sorry, Hidan." Kakuzu gripped Hidan's throat tightly, cutting off his air supply and Hidan's eyes snapped open, he aggressively grabbed at Kakuzu's arm, finding himself unable, passing right through. Hidan clawed at his throat and Kakuzu feld a deep sadness as he watched the light fade from Hidan's gorgeous purple eyes.

He loved Hidan. More than anything in any world. 

If Hashirama and Tobirama sentenced him to stay in hell forever, he'd spend forever looking for Hidan's soul, a part of him prayed he'd never have to find it in hell. Hidan used the last puff of air he had to whisper out a,

"...kuzu..." Hidan breathed out. His eyes were locked onto Kakuzu's like he truly saw him for the first time in years, and shocked, Kakuzu let go of his throat but it was too late to save him that way. He'd cut off all the air for too long.

Kakuzu was anguished and smacked Hidan's face, trying to wake him up.

The room's atmosphere changed and it was significantly colder. Kakuzu looked up to see the one person he didn't want to see.

Death.

"No. You can't take him. I won't let you." Kakuzu said, standing in front of Hidan's body.

"You've already taken him from me too many times. It's time to let go." Death said slowly and Kakuzu shook his head angrily.

"You can fuck out of here, Hidan is staying with me!" Death took a step closer, his red three bladed scythe firmly in his hand. Kakuzu eyed it. "Don't go near him." Kakuzu warned. Death paused.

"It isn't fair to the other souls that Hidan can keep coming back from the dead."

"He was never dead!" Kakuzu snapped. "I always saved him before he died!" Death shook their head slowly. "Fuck you."

"Kakuzu, you can't keep-" Kakuzu grabbed Death's scythe at an alarmingly quick speed. Death had never assumed one would turn on them but with a quick angry swing...

Death was no more. He faded to dust.

Kakuzu dropped the scythe and turned to Hidan and felt his chest for breathing. 

There was a burning sensation in Kakuzu's back and he fell to the ground with a loud groan. The last of his white feathers filled in, he saved Hidan's life. But slowly, like a plague, the white of his feathers seeped into a deep black color. He was damned again, his feathers didn't fall out, but they were midnight black and frighteningly sharp. 

Once the pain subsided, Kakuzu reached over and grabbed the scythe. He knew each blade represented different things. He knew of life and death, the third one, he was unsure of. 

"Hidan! Hidan wake up!" Kakuzu shook the body, his hands felt even more firm. Hidan's eyes fluttered open, they landed on Kakuzu. 

"K... Kuzu?" He said weakly and Kakuzu nodded. Hidan rubbed his face and moved his arm, accidentally gripping the scythe. 

He was horrified to see his pale skin becoming a black color, strange markings, like bones were left in white, until his skin wasn't the same anymore. He looked up at Kakuzu, who's eyes were wide. 

"What... what's going on?" Hidan asked and Kakuzu blinked slowly.

"You're... death." He answered as calmly as he could. Hidan continued to look at Kakuzu.

"Death?... Why did you leave me?" Hidan asked and Kakuzu shook his head slowly.

"I never left you, Hidan. I was always here. You chose not to see me." Kakuzu replied quietly. "I saved you."

"You're the fuck that kept me alive?" Hidan asked and smiled, it looked different on his face now. "Why?"

"I was supposed to keep you alive. It was my penance. I wanted my wings back." Hidan eyed his wings and gave a slight appreciative nod.

"They're nice." He complimented and Kakuzu nodded again.

"Thanks..." 

"So you're just some fallen angel who wanted redemption?" Kakuzu offered a hand and Hidan took it. Kakuzu looked at those eyes, they never changed. Still purple. 

"You can say that." Kakuzu agreed and Hidan nodded.

"Looks like it's just you and me then, Kuzu." Hidan's smile was just as white as it was before. "I missed you, ya old grump." Kakuzu didn't respond, but Hidan knew that he was missed too. 

"Yeah. Just me and you." Kakuzu said and gave a slight smile, before it faded into a frown. "Now listen here, brat, you have got to work on-"

"Ahh come on, I thought this ended when I was 6." 

"No, you just couldn't hear it anymore." Kakuzu said, with a slight smirk and Hidan laughed loudly.

"Yeah, you're probably right. You could never keep your grumpy ass quiet, could you?"

Kisame walked into the room and they saw the way his expression dropped upon not seeing Hidan in the room. He called Hidan's name several times and left. Kakuzu watched him fondly. Kisame was always a favorite of his.

"Think he's going to freak out?" Hidan asked and Kakuzu shrugged.

"He cares for you, brat." Hidan looked at the closed door and nodded.

"Yeah. One of the only people that ever did." Hidan said wistfully, he looked up at Kakuzu a moment later with a smile. "Besides you, of course."

"Yeah, let's go." Kakuzu said with an eye roll. 

***

"Madara." Hashirama said with crossed arms. "Looks like you're in charge now."

"What the hell do you mean?" Madara asked and stood up.

"Kakuzu is gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone? How can he be gone? He's Satan! He needs to run Hell!" 

"Well, it seems that it's your problem now." Tobirama said coolly and the two brothers disappeared.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! That's a wrap!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, I'm sorry I can only write smut or angst. I should write smut for this though... I'll stop while I'm ahead.
> 
> Please, let me know your favorite part and I hope you all have a great day! :)


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